Minerals from Different Locations

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Item Description

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Pyrite, or Iron Pyrite, is an Iron sulfide with isometric Crystals that usually appear as cubes.  It is brittle and can break or powder easily.  Its metallic luster and brass yellow hue have earned it the nickname of "fool's gold" due to many miners mistaken it for the real thing.  Ironically, small quantities of actual gold are sometimes found in Pyrite.  It is the most common of the sulfide minerals and is usually found with other sulfides or oxides in Quartz veins, sedimentary or metamorphic rocks. 

Pyrite Nugget

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Apatite is a part of the phosphate group of minerals that was formed in igneous rocks and in metamorphosed limestone.  Apatite is translucent or transparent and usually green in color but can be colorless, white, yellow, bluish, reddish, brown or purple. 

Apatite

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The Tourmaline mineral group is chemically one of the most complicated groups of Silicate minerals.  Its composition varies widely with Sodium, Calcium, Iron, Magnesium, Lithium, Aluminum, Boron and other elements.  It has a wide variety of colors including black, blue-black, brown, yellow, red, green, pink and is rarely colorless.  This mineral is found in igneous rocks, like Granite Pegmatite, and metamorphic rocks such as Schist and Marble.

Green Tourmaline

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Apophyllite, a Zeolite, is Silicate mineral with very well defined clear Crystals and is very popular as a collector's mineral.  The Crystal structure will refract like in obvious rainbows and can form "natural pyramids" when tumbled.

Apophyllite-Quartz

$20.00

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Libyan Desert Glass is found on the Libyan-Egyptian border. It is around 26 to 29 million years old. This  unusual substance is by no means a new scientific discovery; having been known of since the early 1930s, but what has puzzled scientists is how it came to be in this remote and inhospitable area called the Great Sand Sea of Egypt. This barren frontier between the Libyan and Egyptian borders is a vast desert area with not a single water source for 150,000 square miles.

Libyan Glass

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Selenite, also known as Satin Spar, Desert Rose and Gypsum Flower, is a variety of Crystalline Gypsum.  Gypsum is a very soft mineral composed of Calcium Sulfate.  Desert Roses are rosette shaped Gypsum with outer druze of sand or with sand throughout and often sand colored. 

Desert Rose

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Stibnite, also known as Antimonite, is a Sulfide mineral that forms grey Crystals.  It is the most important source for the rare Metalloid Antimony.  It is used in the manufacture of fireworks, batteries, safety matches and mascara.

Stibnite

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Malachite is a Copper Carbonate mineral that often forms botryoidal, fibrous or stalagmitic masses.  It is often the result of the weathering of Copper Ores and is commonly found with Azurite, Goethite and Calcite.  It is typically associated with Copper deposits including Limestone which is the source of the Carbonate.  Malachite is found in many regions world wide and is usually shaded green in color.

Malachite-Azurite

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Barite is a mineral consisting of Barium sulfate and is generally white or colorless.  It is used in the manufacture of paints and paper.  Although Barite contains a 'heavy' metal, Barium, it is not considered to be a toxic chemical because of its extreme insolubility.

Golden Barite

M309b  This is something different for any collector.  Here is a very nice, very pretty Selenite Crystal from Mexico.  It measures over 4 1/4" x 3 3/8" x nearly 1 1/2" and has a natural shiny appearance.  A great conversation piece or use it wire wrap a new piece of jewelry.

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Selenite, also known as Satin Spar, Desert Rose and Gypsum Flower, are the four Crystalline varieties of Gypsum.  It is a very soft material composed of Calcium Sulfate.  Selenite is often transparent and colorless.  If color is present it is often due to impurities or presence of other minerals. 

Selenite Crystal

Selenite, also known as Satin Spar, Desert Rose and Gypsum Flower, is a variety of Crystalline Gypsum.  Gypsum is a very soft mineral composed of Calcium Sulfate.  Gypsum Flowers are rosette shaped Gypsum with spreading fibers and can include an outer druze of sand or with sand throughout.  The difference between Desert Roses and Gypsum Flowers is that Desert Roses look like roses, whereas, gypsum flowers are a myriad of shapes.

Sand Selenite Rose

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Apophyllite, also a Zeolite, is Silicate mineral with very well defined clear Crystals and is very popular as a collector's mineral.  The Crystal structure will refract like in obvious rainbows and can form "natural pyramids" when tumbled.

Stilbite is another Silicate mineral from the Zeolite family.  It is often characterized by its sheaf like aggregates.  The color is usually white and when the cleavage is perfect, will have a distinct pearly luster.

Apophyllite-Stilbite

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Sulfur is an abundant, tasteless, multivalent non metal mineral.  In its native form, it is a yellow crystalline solid.  It can be found as a pure element or as Sulfide and/or Sulfate minerals.  It is primarily used commercially in fertilizers but is also widely used in gunpowder, matches, insecticides and fungicides.  It may have a faint odor similar to that of matches which is often from the composition of the hydrogen in the sulfuric compounds.  When heated, Sulfur will turn into a blood red liquid and when burned it emits a blue flame and the peculiar, notable odor.

Pyrite-Quartz

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Prehnite is a Phyllosilicate mixture of Calcium and Aluminum.  Although it is not a Zeolite, it is often associated with them and with Datolite and Calcite, in veins and cavities of Basaltic rocks, sometimes in Granites, Syenites or Gneisses.  The color varies from light green to grey to white to yellow or a mix of colors.  It is translucent.

Apophyllite, also a Zeolite, is Silicate mineral with very well defined clear Crystals and is very popular as a collector's mineral.  The Crystal structure will refract like in obvious rainbows and can form "natural pyramids" when tumbled.

Prehnite

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Hemimorphite is a sorosilicate mineral that is chiefly associated with Smithsonite.  It commonly forms crystalline crusts and layers and also massive, granular, rounded aggregates or finely shaped clusters of crystals.  It may fluorescence a strong green in UV short wave light and weak pink in UV long wave light.

Limonite is an ore consisting of a mixture of hydrated Iron Oxide-Hydroxide of varying composition of minerals such as Goethite, Lepidocrocite, or Jarosite.  It has been mined with Hematite as an Ore for the production of Iron. Limonite is heavy and has a yellow-brown color.  It is often used as the pigment ochre in many paints.

Hemimorphite-Limonite

Mica is from the group of sheet Silicate minerals.  Mica is widely distributed and occurs in igneous, metamorphic and sedimentary regions throughout the world.  Large Mica Crystals are used for various applications and are typically mined from Granitic Pegmatites.  It has a high dielectric strength and excellent chemical stability which makes it favorable in the manufacturing of capacitors for radio frequency applications.  It is also used in the manufacturing of glass that is used in stoves and kerosene heaters because it is heat resistant.

Ruby Mica

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Selenite, also known as Satin Spar, Desert Rose and Gypsum Flower, is a variety of Crystalline Gypsum.  Gypsum is a very soft mineral composed of Calcium Sulfate.  Gypsum Flowers are rosette shaped Gypsum with spreading fibers and can include an outer druze of sand or with sand throughout.  The difference between Desert Roses and Gypsum Flowers is that Desert Roses look like roses, whereas, gypsum flowers are a myriad of shapes.

Sand Selenite Rose

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Sphaerocobaltite, also known as Cobaltocalcite or Cobaltian-calcite, is a colorful and beautiful mineral.  The deep rose-red to pink color it has makes is easy to confuse with Rhodochrosite or Stichtite as all have the similar red to pink colors. Impure specimens can be shades of pink to pale brown. It is found as crusts and small crystals in many cobalt ore locations.

Sphaerocobaltite

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Selenite, also known as Satin Spar, Desert Rose and Gypsum Flower, is a variety of Crystalline Gypsum.  Gypsum is a very soft mineral composed of Calcium Sulfate.  Desert Roses are rosette shaped Gypsum with outer druze of sand or with sand throughout and often sand colored. 

Selenite Rose